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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24940282">eight weeks (the first time you ever scared me)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex'>LiveLaughLovex</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>we'll make it right for you [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Code (TV 2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Post-Canon, Pregnancy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:35:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,369</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24940282</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Eight weeks into Harper's pregnancy, she and Abe see their unborn child for the first time. Two weeks later, in their apartment, they get to hear its heartbeat for the first time.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>John "Abe" Abraham/Harper Li</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>we'll make it right for you [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1803601</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>eight weeks (the first time you ever scared me)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>"I remember when I first heard your heartbeat; it had only been eight weeks. Standing there, staring at that screen, was the first time you ever scared me." - Brett Young, "Lady"</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So, the baby thing…”</p>
<p>“The baby thing being we’re about to have one?” Harper cut in humorously, glancing over at him with an amused grin before continuing her search for the second of her typical black pumps.</p>
<p>“That is the baby thing I meant to address, yes,” Abe replied dryly. “Are we telling people about it?”</p>
<p>“Mm.” Harper emerged from their walk-in closet, having finally located her other shoe. “Maybe not just yet? Let’s go to the doctor first, at least. The second people at work know, they’re going to want to start talking maternity and paternity leave, insurance, college funds, all that…”</p>
<p>“Yes, it’s almost like we work in a building full of lawyers,” Abe remarked teasingly, returning the playful glare she shot in his direction with an innocent grin.</p>
<p>“Plus,” she continued, rolling her eyes fondly as she finished with her shoes and moved on to her hair, “we should probably tell our parents and your siblings before anyone else. Can you imagine what your sister would do if she found out about her impending aunt status from anyone other than you? That’d be a bloodbath you wouldn’t surely walk away from, my love.”</p>
<p>“Fair enough. I think Candace has mellowed out some, though.”</p>
<p>“The last time I saw her, she taught me how to kill a man with one punch,” Harper deadpanned. “I was terrified she was going to break out diagrams at some point.”</p>
<p>“Okay, so she hasn’t mellowed out much,” Abe conceded. “I’ve got to take the blame for the punch of death thing, though. Taught her that before she went to college.” He shrugged when his girlfriend shot him an incredulous glance. “What? She went to <em>Columbia.</em> We weren’t going to send her off to the mean streets of New York City without a few ways to watch out for herself. It isn’t like the place is particularly renowned for its safeness, especially for young girls.”</p>
<p>“Point,” Harper allowed, reaching for her uniform jacket and slipping carefully into it. “My mom sent me off with about eighty tiny bottles of mace and a knife that looked like a tube of lipstick.”</p>
<p>Abe whistled lowly. “And you say <em>my</em> family needs to mellow out.”</p>
<p>“At least she wasn’t as bad as my dad. He tried to talk me into letting him buy me a <em>gun</em>. My dad doesn’t even <em>like</em> guns.”</p>
<p>“That’s good to know. Might make it a little harder to kill me when we tell him.”</p>
<p>“Okay, first of all, my dad isn’t going to kill you for getting me pregnant. He and I might not see eye-to-eye, but he’s not a caveman who’s going to think you’ve <em>dishonored</em> me or something equally sexist.”</p>
<p>“Is there a <em>second of all</em> to that statement?”</p>
<p>“<em>Second of all</em>,” she continued pointedly, unable to bite back a smile as he grinned at her unrepentantly, “you were trained by the United States Marine Corps and did two tours of Afghanistan. I doubt my dad would be able to chase you <em>down</em>, let alone actually go through with <em>killing</em> you.”</p>
<p>“Oh, that’s good to hear. It’s great to know the only thing keeping your father from killing me is that he’s too slow to do it. Not because he wouldn’t <em>want</em> to, because I can <em>outrun</em> him.”</p>
<p>“Alright, sweetheart, maybe it’s <em>you</em> who needs to mellow out.” She finished with her earrings, then checked her reflection in the mirror next to their dresser before glancing over at him. “You ready to go?”</p>
<p>“We’ve got forty-five minutes before the morning meeting.”</p>
<p>“You do know the reason Turnbull’s so supportive of this relationship is because you’ve started making it to those meetings on time, right?”</p>
<p>“Well, and also because she’s happy we’re happy.”</p>
<p>“Sure, sure,” Harper agreed distractedly, snagging her purse from the coat rack next to the door and then preceding him into the hallway. “That, too.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-o-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Are you doing anything tomorrow morning at nine?”</p>
<p>Abe leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers as he pondered the question. After several seconds, he shook his head. “Nothing I can’t pass off or reschedule. Why? What’s up?”</p>
<p>“I got an appointment. With Dr. Stark. Nine o’clock sharp,” Harper relayed, leaning against the doorjamb with her arms folded casually across her chest. “You think you might be able to make it there on time?”</p>
<p>He smirked at her teasing tone, shaking his head with an amused eyeroll. “You know, I think I can shed my characteristic tardiness for this one particular occasion.”</p>
<p>“Was that your very formal way of telling me you’ll be there on time?”</p>
<p>“It was, yes.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I figured.” Her smirk softened into something more closely resembling a smile. “According to her reviews, this doctor’s the best in the area, so…”</p>
<p>“That’s good. Nothing but the best for you and…” He cleared his throat, catching himself before he could finish that sentence in their place of employment. “Nothing but the best for you,” he repeated quickly.</p>
<p>“Yeah.” Harper sighed quietly, pushing away from the door and closing it firmly behind her. “I’m pretty sure I accidentally made Maya suspicious.”</p>
<p>“Maya is entirely too observant. <em>Anything </em>would make her suspicious.” He smiled comfortingly when her anxious expression remained unchanged. “Maya’s our friend, Harper. Even if she does figure it out, she’s not going to go around telling the entire Defense floor before we’re ready for people to know.”</p>
<p>“No, I know.” She blew out a breath, leaning back in her chair. “I’ll just feel better when we get the all-clear, that’s all.”</p>
<p>“Well, we’ll be doing that tomorrow. At nine o’clock sharp.”</p>
<p>“Right.”</p>
<p>“So. You ready for lunch?” he asked gently.</p>
<p>“Yes. We just can’t go anywhere that serves red meat.” She shrugged helplessly when he eyed her curiously. “Look, I’m not the one making the decisions anymore, Abraham. I <em>can’t</em> go anywhere that serves red meat, but I <em>need</em> to go somewhere that serves chicken fingers.”</p>
<p>“I think I’ll be able to find a place fitting that criteria,” he assured her, reaching for his jacket and then following her from their shared office. “What about fries? Are fries acceptable?”</p>
<p>“Fries are very much acceptable. I will be very upset if there are no fries, in fact.”</p>
<p>“Noted.”</p>
<p>“You think you’ll be tired of me by the end of this?”</p>
<p>“Never.”</p>
<p>“Unless I start requesting anchovies and pineapple on my pizza?” Harper asked skeptically.</p>
<p>“On the <em>same</em> pizza?”</p>
<p>“Yes.”</p>
<p>“Then yeah, that could do it,” Abe nodded emphatically, chuckling when she shot him what to be the least intimidating glower he’d ever seen. “No,” he said honestly, allowing her to precede him into the elevator and then pressing the button to close the door behind them. “Not even then.”</p>
<p>“Wow. Fish and fruit on pizza? You must really love me, Abraham.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, Li,” he confirmed, smiling softly down at her as she grinned playfully up at him. “I really do.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>-o-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, Harper, maybe you should put down the magazine about birth defects now.”</p>
<p>Abe’s soft words snapped her from her reverie, and she glanced over at him questioningly. “Why?”</p>
<p>“Your leg hasn’t stopped moving once in the past fifteen minutes, and you look like you’re about seven seconds away from having a panic attack,” he informed her helpfully, gently prying the magazine from between her fingers and placing it back on the table next to them. “I can’t imagine the anxiety you were causing yourself was doing good things for your blood pressure, either.”</p>
<p>“Probably not,” Harper conceded, sighing heavily before allowing her head to fall onto Abe’s shoulder. “It’s very scary carrying a small person, you know.”</p>
<p>She felt him smile against her hair. “I would imagine so.”</p>
<p>“And I do know the chances of this baby having a disease that impacts one in a hundred thousand people aren’t high, I just…”</p>
<p>“Can’t help but worry,” he finished for her. “I know. I get it. Just maybe don’t…”</p>
<p>“Read up on it? Yeah. I’ll stop doing that,” she promised, lifting her head when a friendly-looking nurse called her name.</p>
<p>They were quickly led back to an examination room. After taking Harper’s vitals, the nurse offered them another smile and promised the doctor would be in to see them soon before exiting the room, carefully pulling the door shut behind her.</p>
<p>The doctor did, in fact, enter the room not long after her nurse exited. “Hello,” she greeted, shooting them a polite smile as she stepped forward to shake both their hands. “I’m Dr. Mathilda Stark. You’re Harper, I’m guessing?”</p>
<p>“I am.”</p>
<p>“Well, Harper, it’s nice to meet you,” Dr. Stark said genuinely, kind smile still in place. “And you, Mr.…”</p>
<p>“Abraham,” Abe supplied. “John Abraham.”</p>
<p>“Mr. Abraham. It’s nice to meet the both of you, especially under such happy circumstances. I hear we have a baby to say hello to this morning.” She glanced down at Harper’s file, reading over the notes her nurse had jotted down. “So, it says here you think you’re about six weeks along.”</p>
<p>“Based on the date of my last cycle, yes,” Harper confirmed, shifting on the exam table. “I know that’s not always accurate, but…”</p>
<p>“Well, it’s not the most accurate, but it’s usually a pretty good guess. We’ll see how close you landed in just a few minutes, though. I’ll be doing an ultrasound. Have you experienced any bleeding or cramping, anything like that?”</p>
<p>“No.”</p>
<p>“Okay. How about nausea or headaches? Are you having any issues with those?”</p>
<p>“Nausea, sometimes. There are certain smells that just… set me off. But it’s not constant or anything. And no, I haven’t had any problems with headaches.”</p>
<p>“Good to hear. We’ll do a blood draw after the ultrasound, make sure all your levels are alright, but it sounds like you’re doing good so far.”</p>
<p>“But if there’s anything wrong…”</p>
<p>“It’ll probably show up in the bloodwork, if it’s you,” the doctor assured her, offering a comforting smile. “And we’ll deal with it. If it’s the baby, then we’ll likely see it on the ultrasound, which I’ll do right now.”</p>
<p>“Okay.” Harper exhaled deeply, laying back against the table and rolling her shirt up when instructed by the doctor. She glanced over at Abe, who smiled warmly and then leaned down to press a lingering kiss to her forehead.</p>
<p>“It’s going to be okay,” he murmured near her ear, brushing a strand of hair away from her face and taking her hand in his as the doctor readied the ultrasound machine.</p>
<p>“Alright. We try our best to keep it room temperature, but I’ve been told this stuff is a little cold, so I will just go ahead and apologize for that,” Dr. Stark said, applying a green gel to Harper’s abdomen and then pressing the wand to her stomach. She searched for a moment, then smiled widely as she found what it was she was looking for. “Alright, Mom, Dad, say hello to your little one.”</p>
<p>Harper stared unseeingly at the screen, her eyes already glistening with tears. All she really saw was a blob, but it was by far the cutest blob she’d ever seen, and she already loved it more than she’d thought possible. “Is… is everything okay? Are they okay?”</p>
<p>“They’re perfect,” the doctor assured her. “You’re a little further along than you estimated. I’d say closer to eight weeks than six. But they’re right where they should be. See that flickering? That’s the heartbeat. You can’t hear it just yet, unfortunately. Even the best Dopplers don’t become reliable until nine or ten weeks in. But it’s definitely there, and it’s definitely strong.”</p>
<p>“Wow,” Harper breathed, eyes never leaving the screen. “We made that.”</p>
<p>“We did,” Abe murmured in response, thumb moving gently over her knuckles. “Pretty cool, huh?”</p>
<p>“<em>Very</em> cool.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-o-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Two weeks later, Harper exited their bedroom to see Abe seated in the middle of their living room floor, a box positioned directly in front of him. She heaved a sigh, shaking her head with a fond smirk as she leaned back against the wall. “John Abraham.”</p>
<p>It was a good thing he wasn’t anywhere near a hard surface; with how quick his head shot up and in her direction, he definitely would’ve ended up with a concussion. “Yes, dear?”</p>
<p>“What have you done?”</p>
<p>“Nothing. Unless you’re talking about me getting in touch with Dr. Stark’s office, asking which Doppler they recommended, and then ordering that item off the Internet with express delivery. I did do that.”</p>
<p>“Abe.”</p>
<p>“What? Did you want to wait for another two weeks?”</p>
<p>It was a rhetorical question, and the look on his face as he posed it assured her he knew that. “No, but… how did you even manage to get it in here without me noticing?”</p>
<p>“You were in the shower,” he informed her. “I waited, because I wanted it to be a surprise.”</p>
<p>“Ah. That’s sweet.” She sighed, feigning annoyance, when he continued to stare at her. “I’m guessing you’d like to try it out now, then?”</p>
<p>“I mean, if you don’t mind…”</p>
<p>She bit back a laugh at his sheepish expression. “I suppose that wouldn’t put me out <em>too</em> much.” She made her way across the room, laying down on the sofa and getting situated.</p>
<p>Several minutes later, after the gel had been applied, he pressed the Doppler to her abdomen. “Okay, I’d just like it to go on record, right now, that I’ve never used one of these before, so if I screw up…”</p>
<p>“You went to the Naval Academy,” she reminded him, expression deadpan. “I think you’ve got it under control.”</p>
<p>“Well, I’m just saying, I want it to be known…” He froze in place as a faint beating began echoing throughout the room. “Okay, so maybe I do know what I’m doing.”</p>
<p>“Is that…”</p>
<p>“That’s the heartbeat,” Abe confirmed in response to her incomplete question. “Wow.” His eyes were already damp as he grinned up at her. “We made that.”</p>
<p>She laughed through her tears. “We did. Pretty cool, huh?”</p>
<p>“<em>Very</em> cool.” He leaned up to kiss her, a single tear rolling down his cheek as he smiled against her lips. “The coolest.”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” she agreed, blinking back tears of her own. “It really is.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I apologize for any medical inaccuracies found throughout this story. I researched as much as I could on Google, but I'm still not positive it's all correct. Several sources said the thing about the Doppler, though, so I just decided to go with it. Plus, the idea of Abe going out of his way to buy a Doppler so early on simultaneously amused me and melted my heart, so. There's that, too.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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